Of course, Zhang Zhong couldn’t just talk nonsense all the time. After touting the Goncourt Literary Award for a while, he turned to say, “After Lord of the Flies came out, I heard a not-so-strong voice. Some people were because of this book.
The book is a bit dark and depressing, and its judgment on the nature of human nature is a bit pessimistic, so it gave me the title of pessimist, for which I feel very unjust."
"Actually, I am a person who smiles at the world, and I am definitely not a pessimist. Are people who see darkness a devil? Obviously not. In my opinion, it is precisely when you see darkness that you can understand the meaning of light.
Everyone here, I don’t know if you have heard of the sentence - know yourself. It is said that this sentence was engraved in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi."
"The reason why human beings suffer is because they are ignorant of their own nature to an astonishing degree. And "Lord of the Flies" conveys the confidence that human beings can gradually understand themselves. We need to understand the beast lurking in our hearts.
.”
"There is an idiom in China called "Kenji Fuli", which means to restrain oneself and make everything conform to etiquette. The reason why we have to restrain ourselves is because the sages knew that we have complex natures in our hearts, and there are many evil ones among them.
Existence, these are the things we have to restrain. If we want to restrain ourselves and restore etiquette, we must first know what we need to restrain, why we need to restrain, and how to restrain. "Lord of the Flies" gives some answers to these questions, but it is definitely not all...
…”
When Zhang Zhong was talking nonsense before, the on-site translator who was responsible for translating his words felt quite relaxed, but when it came to the next paragraph, the translator obviously felt a little difficult.
Especially the sentence "Restrain oneself and restore rites", if Zhang Zhong had not explained it himself later, the translator would not know how to translate it.
"I personally think that so-called pessimism is negativity and inaction. And if a writer only realizes that the era in which he lives is in a tragic situation, he can fulfill the mission of a serious writer and inject our thoughts and demands into his works.
Among them, this is definitely not pessimism. Instead, I think it is positivity. Well, this ends my acceptance speech, coming from an activist writer."
After finishing his acceptance speech, Zhang Zhong bowed to pay tribute, then walked off the stage holding the box.
At this point, the award ceremony is over.
It only takes ten minutes in total.
But there is no need to leave in a hurry, because there will be a banquet after the ceremony.
The organizing committee was reluctant to give out bonuses, but was willing to spend money on banquets.
They need to walk out of the Cultural Auditorium and walk to the Sal Hotel, which is two hundred meters away from the Cultural Auditorium.
On the way to the hotel, Zhang Zhong, Xu Yuhan, Nolan, and He Kelan walked side by side.
Nolan is old and slow, so the others can only accommodate his speed.
"Mr. PZ, your acceptance speech was very helpful."
If Nolan's eyes weren't sincere enough, Zhang Zhong would have even suspected that the old man was deliberately mocking.
However, apart from the large amount of time-delaying nonsense at the beginning, the tense and free play at the end still makes sense.
"Restrain yourself and return to etiquette." Nolan imitated the nervous Chinese, and then asked in French, "Am I right?"
Xu Yuhan has been acting as a translator.
"Pretty standard." Zhang Chong said with a smile, "Mr. Nolan is quite talented in languages. Are you interested in learning more Chinese?"
"I tried it once, but lost my confidence because of it. I originally thought I had a talent for languages. Later, after learning a little Chinese, I realized that I had no talent. But I am very interested in your idioms. Today, because of you
I learned another idiom. What allusions does this idiom have? You know, idioms are more interesting because they have allusions."
Zhang nodded and said, "That's true. Self-denial and restoration of propriety come from "The Analects". Once Confucius's student Yan Hui asked Confucius how to achieve the state of benevolence. Confucius said this, and "Don't look at anything that's inappropriate, don't do anything that's inappropriate."
Listen, don’t do anything if it’s inappropriate.”
After he finished speaking, Xu Yuhan scratched his head and said, "This translation is a bit difficult."
Indeed, when it comes to these conceptual things, Xu Yuhan's French level is not quite adequate.
In fact, not only her, but probably few people in the world can clearly translate these conceptual things in the Analects into French.
For example, concepts such as benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom, and trust seem to be wrong in any translation.
The paragraph Zhang Zhong just said contains benevolence and propriety, but these two words are more difficult to translate.
What is etiquette?
It seems to be correct to translate it as politeness, but obviously the courtesy here cannot be explained simply by the word politeness.
What is benevolence?
Kindness? This is even more wrong.
It seems that it would be more appropriate to translate it as benevolence, but even if it is translated as benevolence, it still lacks some meaning.
Zhang Zhong's French skills were mediocre, so it was naturally impossible for him to explain to them, and the scene became cold for a while.
He Kelan and Nolan only heard Zhang Zhong speak a lot in Chinese, and then waited for Xu Yuhan to translate, but after waiting for a long time, they didn't get it.
Seeing them waiting, Zhang Zhong could only say to Xu Yuhan, "I remember that "The Analects of Confucius" has a French version. Let them go back and look for it themselves."
Xu Yuhan rolled her eyes at Zhang Zhong, "Isn't this fooling people?"
Zhang Zhong shrugged his shoulders, meaning do you have a better way?
Of course Xu Yuhan had no choice but to tell He Kelan and the others as Zhang Zhong said.
Hearing Xu Yuhan's words, He Kelan and the others showed regretful expressions.
He Kelan directly spoke to Zhang Zhong in English, "I think the reason why your Chinese culture cannot be popularized around the world is entirely because of the limitations of writing. Of course, I am not saying that Chinese language has limitations, but your language is different from ours.
Too much."
Zhang Zhong nodded in agreement and said, "You are right. Chinese culture is extensive and profound. The reason why it has not been popularized around the world is indeed due to language factors. But I think that if you like Chinese culture, you can try to learn it.
Learn Chinese, and maybe you will open a door to a new world."
"I believe that more and more people will learn Chinese." Nolan said in English. His English level was even worse than that of He Kelan, and he was stumbling when speaking this sentence.
While chatting, they walked to the door of Sal Hotel. Although Nolan walked slowly, the total distance was only two hundred meters, and it took only a few minutes to walk.
Many people arrived at the door before them, but they still waited until they arrived before walking into the hotel together. After all, their status was unusual.